Balbithan House

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Balbithan House is a tower house near the Scottish town of Inverurie in the Council Area of Aberdeenshire . In 1972 the building was included in the Scottish monument lists in the highest monument category A. The entire property was also on the Scottish Landscaping Register . However, since the admission criteria were no longer met in 2018, the classification was revoked.

history

The Balbithan estate was one of the possessions of Lindores Abbey in the Middle Ages . The Chalmers family had acquired the property by 1490 . Around 1560 a defense tower was built there, which formed the nucleus of Balbithan House. The Hower House was expanded around 1600 and 1630. Around 1696, the Edinburgh merchant James Balfour bought the property. Just a few years later, he sold it to Willliam Hay before Balbithan was transferred to the Gordon clan in the early 18th century . In 1801 William Forbes of Skellater inherited Balbithan House. After it had stood empty for a while, the defense tower was restored from 1840 onwards. In 1859 it was sold to Francis Keith-Falconer, 8th Earl of Kintore , before the Duncan family bought it in 1914. During World War II , Balbithan was sold to the Stotts of Crichie and was eventually taken over by the McMurty family in 1960 .

description

The Tower House is isolated around three kilometers northeast of Kintore and four kilometers southeast of Inverurie. The facades of the L-shaped , three-story building are plastered with Harl . A round stair tower emerges in its inner corner. The edges are designed with corner curls . The roof is covered with slate . The garden wall on the east side was rebuilt after 1960. There is a sundial in the garden that was erected in the early 1960s.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Listed Building - Entry . In: Historic Scotland .
  2. ↑ a b c Garden and Designed Landscape - entry . In: Historic Scotland .
  3. ↑ Entry on Balbithan House  in Canmore, the database of Historic Environment Scotland (English)

Web links

Coordinates: 57 ° 15 ′ 36.9 "  N , 2 ° 18 ′ 47"  W.